


Never Recover

by sweetiejelly



Category: Grey's Anatomy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Community: wishlist_fic, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-02
Updated: 2014-03-02
Packaged: 2018-01-14 08:07:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1259080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweetiejelly/pseuds/sweetiejelly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Henry and Teddy make up after their first real fight.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Never Recover

**Author's Note:**

  * For [moriann](https://archiveofourown.org/users/moriann/gifts).



> Written so belatedly for moriann for [wishlist_fic](http://wishlist-fic.livejournal.com/) 2013\. I tried for a tiny bit of fix-it fic. Hope it's okay! :)

> _You're such a hard act for me to follow_  
>  _Love me today, don't leave me tomorrow, yeah_  
>  _But if I fall for you, I'll never recover_  
>  _If I fall for you, I'll never be the same_  
>  \-- Maroon 5's "Love Somebody"

Confidence is sexy, Henry remembers reading somewhere. Probably in one of the thousands of magazines he's flipped through over the years in doctors' offices, the waiting rooms. It's something he uses because he doesn't have the health part or the wealth part working in his favor. His current occupation is staying alive between surgeries and prolonging the time between each. That pales next to 'doctor' or 'professional baseball player.' 

Henry has never been a doctor, but he misses the ball playing, the way the air smells soaked in hot dogs and sunshine and sweat. 

Right now he's soaked in sweat, his heart pounding as he leans over the kitchen sink. Only, right now he feels awful, not confident and certainly not sexy. For whatever reason he's thinking about that time when Teddy looked at him with her Disney princess eyes and told him that they only made a good story, that they weren't real. 

This is real. Henry knows so because this hurts like a heart attack. His wife doesn't support his dream. Henry wants that fairytale right about now. He wants his shiny happily ever after, not this hurt which is almost worse than the hotshot boyfriend he couldn't compete with. All because their marriage is real now. Teddy loves him. 

Love sucks. Except the part where it makes him feel better than the best drugs, the part where he wakes up in the middle of the night and finds Teddy home, her cheek pressed against his back, her hand splayed over his chest. That part can stay. That and when he catches her smile across a hospital hallway and knows it's because of him. And okay, he'll admit it. The sex is pretty phenomenal. Mostly because Teddy is phenomenal. Inspirational. Henry wishes she could see that. Teddy is ninety percent of the reason he wants to go to medical school. (Ten percent is because he's been reading the articles she brings home with her, and medicine is cool, okay?) 

A key jingles in the lock and Henry breathes in deeply and exhales. He straightens up and turns around. _Confidence is sexy. Confidence is sexy_ , he chants to himself. He's all ready to use it when Teddy beats him to it. 

"I'm sorry," she says, her large expressive eyes still taking his breath away. "I hate the thought of you under the stress of medical school and residency. I want you alive, but I want you to be happy, to be _Henry_. And if you think medical school will make you happy…" 

" _You_ make me happy," he interrupts her because she needs to understand this. "You're my best friend and my best fantasy and better than that - real. You're my wife, Teddy. I love you. But I need to do this. I need to give back. I feel like my mind is good for something. My body maybe not so much, but this," he taps the side of his head, "this fills out at least half of the crossword puzzles every Sunday." 

Teddy half rolls her eyes at him. "I know you're smart, Henry. I wouldn't be so in love with you otherwise. I'm just - I'm your _wife_. I want you whole and well and alive. You understand that, right? You have diabetes now on top of the VHL and I just-" 

Her agitation moves him until he's there in front of her, gathering her into his arms. Her cheek fits neatly beside his cheek and he cradles the back of her head. "I get it, I do. And I love that you love me so much to fight with me on this. But you know better than anyone that drive to help people, to save lives. You saved mine." 

Teddy sags against him all of the sudden, a little puff of sigh he can feel tickling his neck. Then she squeezes him hard, like she might never let go. "I don't like losing." 

"Who says anyone's losing?" He trails a warm hand slowly down her back, his thumb a steady promise down her spine. 

She giggles, this beautiful life-affirming noise, and he can't help it. He hikes up her legs around his waist and tries to stay balanced as she kisses him all the way to their bedroom. 

As he kicks the door shut, Henry remembers again - confidence is sexy - and he grins as he spins her around and crowds her up against the door lips first. Their marriage may be real now, but no one ever said he couldn't borrow a few tips from storybook kisses, movie-book kisses, kisses that leave all other kisses behind in the dust. 


End file.
